Aerith's Reunion
by Laurana Linore
Summary: Aerith sighed as she stared at her necklase. When Radiant Garden was destroyed, she lost many friends. And although she missed all of them, one stood out in her mind. A Cloud x Aerith fic, rated T for blood, violence, and only 2 curse words....
1. Chapter I

**Hey, it's Laurana Linore! My friend wanted me to put this story up on fanfiction, so thanks Gina! This story is rated T for blood and stuffs, and it's a Cloud x Aerith fanfic so Cloud x Tifa fans who hate Aerith, please don't read, or if you do, don't get mad at me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy. I am sad.**

_There was once a place called Radiant Garden. It was a beautiful successful world. The Garden was lead by a man named Ansem the Wise. He was a great and powerful leader, and he always cared about his people. Ansem was a scientist, and he was always interested in the hearts of the living. One day, he discovered something no one else had before. He discovered these creatures that were created from beings that lost their hearts. He called these small black creatures "Heartless" for they had no hearts. Ansem continued to experiment on these heartless, until one day, there was an accident. Heartless flooded the streets of Radiant Garden and stole the hearts of the citizens. And for each heart they stole, another heartless was created. Soon, the heart of the world it self, was swallowed. The survivors were scattered among the worlds as the Garden was destroyed ten years ago._

_But, that was then, and this is now...._

~~~~~....~~~~~

Aerith was sitting on a rock in the water ways of Traverse Town. She was watching Leon train as she often did. Aerith smiled as memories of Garden flooded her mind. They were all one big family back then. Aerith, Yuffie, Rinoa, Irvine, Sephiroth, Selphie, Cid, Leon, Zell, Tifa, and Cloud all grew up together and treated each other like family. But only Aerith, Leon, Yuffie and Cid were able to reunite with each other.

Aerith's smile soon faded as the memories of her friend's separation, appeared in her thoughts. Although she missed all of her friends, one of them did stick out in her mind. Aerith unclasped the necklace she was wearing and looked at it as she often did when she thought about him. The necklace was made from a gold chain, and hanging from the chain was a silver "C". She sighed deeply as she gazed at the pendent.

"What's up?" asked Leon when he noticed her sigh. He sat next to her waiting for an answer.

"Huh, what?" Aerith asked, taken off guard by the attention.

"You sighed, that usually means something's bothering you. So, what's wrong?" After the destruction of their world, Leon started to treat Aerith like a little sister and would usually worry about her wellbeing.

"It's nothing." She assured him as she put her necklace back on.

"You were thinking about him again, weren't you?"

Aerith blinked for a moment then averted her gaze to the floor. "Not just him, all of them."

"Don't worry about them. They all have strong hearts. I'm sure they all made it out of Garden. Especially, Cloud. –"

"Who're we talkin' 'bout," asked a brown haired kid. His name was Sora, and he had a way of getting into other peoples business and some how helping in the end. While some thanked him for it, others thought he was just annoying. "Some guy named, Cloud?"

"Yes actually, he's a friend of ours. Do you know him?" Leon asked sarcastically.

"Yeah actually, I do!"


	2. Chapter II

**Hey it's me again, Laurana Linore, here's chapter 2 so enjoy. Oh, but first, a thanks to my editor, Gina Tsukiko! XD  
****Gina: Yeah, okay great. Now gimme the chocolate you promised me.  
****Laurana: Here ya go! *throws chocolate to her*  
****Gina: CHOCOLATE!! *runs away with the candy as if her life depended on it*  
****Laurana: OK! And on with the story!**

**I do not own anything, especially Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. For Pete's sake, I don't even own a car. So you can't even sue me for that! HA!!**

Cloud sighed and placed yet another first place trophy on an empty shelf in the coliseum's trophy room. He walked down the dimly lit hallway and stopped at a door on the end. He opened the brass plated door then shut it behind him. Cloud leaned his heavy sword against the wall by his bed, took off all his armor, then plopped down onto the soft comforters with only his blue pants and his black undershirt on.

Cloud flipped over with his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then sighed. He turned his head to the side to see a silver chain on his night stand. Cloud reached for the silver necklace and stared at it. From the thick chain hung a golden "A" in a curly font.

Cloud smiled and clasped it around his neck, then lay back down, letting the pendent rest on his chest. He looked up at the ceiling and sweet memories of the day he received the necklace flooded his mind.

_"Hey, Cloud?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"You really like me right?"_

_"I love you, Aerith."_

_"Just making sure.... Oh, hey! I got these for us!"_

_"Necklaces?"_

_"Yup! See, this one's for you and this one's for me."_

_"'A'? For 'Aerith'?"_

_"Uh huh. And mine says 'C' for 'Cloud'."_

_"Hm...."_

_"What? What are you smirking at? This way we'll always remember each other."_

_"I could never forget you, Aerith."_

_"You're so sweet..."_

___

_"Cloud!! The heartless, watch out!!"_

_"Aerith, run!"_

_"AAAAHHHH!!"_

_"N-no! Aerith!!"_

_"....Cloud...."_

_"Aerith!"---_

_

Cloud's day mare suddenly faded when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he offered as he sat up.

"Hey, Cloud." Sora smiled opening the door half way. "I have some friends who are looking for you! I think you'll recognize them!" he said in his ever cheerful mood. Sora opened the door wider and Leon entered the room.

"Cloud!" Leon grinned as he tackled the speechless blonde.

"Squall! You made it out of Garden!"

"Any doubt in your mind? And its Leon now," he explained, putting Cloud in a head lock.

"Leon? What's up with that?" Cloud asked trying to wiggle his way out of Leon's grasp.

"Long story." Leon started to rub his knuckles over Cloud's skull.

"Ow! Hey, stop! You're messing up my hair!" Cloud escaped Leon's hold, still smiling, and tried to punch him only to be blocked by Leon's hand. Cloud and Leon both laughed like they use to long ago.

_I've never seen either Cloud or Leon so happy.... Actually.... I don't think I've ever seen them even smile before! _Sora thought to him self. _I guess that sort of thing happens when you don't see your best friend for 10 years...._

Leon put his hand on Cloud's shoulder, "I missed ya bro."

"Did you find any other survivors?" Cloud asked hopefully.

"Actually, Cid and Yuffie met up with us at Traverse Town shortly after Garden was destroyed."

"'Us'?" Cloud then glanced over at the door to find a beautiful woman in a pink dress smiling at him fondly.

"Hello.... Cloud...." she smiled.


	3. Chapter III

**Konichiwa! Wazzup peoples!? XD It's me again! I just wanted to apologize about how short my chapters are.... Some of my friends found it annoying.... oh well!! *going over spell check* ....Gasp! Word thinks Konichiwa isn't a word!? Add to dictionary!! I swear I had to add about 20 words to my dictionary because of this story. Aerith, and Leon, and Sora, Ansem, and Yuffie.... Clouds lucky, his name is an actual word, but that must get annoying when people are talking about the weather and stuffs.... for Pete's sake I even had to add glomp to my dictionary!! Oh well, ON WITH THE STORY!!! XDDD **

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH or FF, but if I did it would be totally AWWSOME!**

Aerith ran into Cloud's arms.

Cloud didn't speak, his mouth didn't work.

"Oh Cloud! It's really you! After all this time, I'd given up on ever seeing you again!" Aerith started to cry, she couldn't tell whether they were tears of joy or of the sorrow of their parting long held in.

Cloud's eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around the weeping girl. "Don't cry, I'm here now," he assured her.

Leon smiled and walked towards the door. He patted Sora on the shoulder, "Sora, let's go," he said softly so only Sora could hear.

Sora nodded and followed Leon out the door.

Cloud, still comforting Aerith, and Aerith the comfortee, didn't notice.

"I searched for you for two years, until I finally convinced myself that you were dead. I was never able to fully accept it though. I told my self that you were alive somewhere and that you never forgot about me or the others." Aerith cried, her face buried in Cloud's chest.

Cloud lifted up Aerith's chin so that she was looking straight at him. "I could never forget about you, Aerith." He smiled at her and brushed away her tears.

She shook her head and smiled. "You are so sweet," she chuckled.

"Hm...." he smirked, and they kissed, for the first time in 10 years.

~~~~~....~~~~~

"So.... Aerith and Cloud really like each other?" Sora asked Leon.

They were sitting on the steps out side the foyer doors, and up 'till now, Leon had been in deep thought, hunched over with his hand over his face.

"Was it not obvious?" Leon asked taking his hand off his face.

"Hey, before today I didn't even know that you guys all knew each other! I wasn't even certain Cloud was human.... He is human, right?" Sora reconsidered as he recalled Cloud's demonic form.

"More or less...."

"What do you mean 'More or less'?!"

"Don't worry about it," Leon chuckled.

"What?" Sora whined. "What's so funny?" he asked tugging on Leon's arm.

Leon just chuckled again. "Nothing."

_He's laughing. And he didn't tell me to let go. Could he have changed that much in 5 minutes?_

"Quit staring at me like that," Leon glared at Sora.

_Apparently not...._ Sora let go of Leon's sleeve. "Heh, sorry Leon," he said scratching the back of his head.


	4. Chapter IV

**Hello I'm back! XD Sorry but I have no random things to say today.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.... actually technically I don't, as in possession wise. Did you know that they never made an amendment for equal rights, on paper? It never got approved. The only thing us women have is voting.... (I'm talking about the USA btw) BUT NO I'M SERIOUS! Go ahead and look it up but never will you find an actual written amendment saying Women can have freedom of speech or the right to have fire arms or anything except suffrage (voting). I bet everyone just forgot about it though. Oh well, we all know women aren't inferior or superior to men. We are all equal, and I dare anyone to come up to my face, in real life, and say otherwise.**

**Oh, didn't I just say I had nothing random to say today?? Woops, I lied! XD**

After the reunion, Leon returned to Traverse Town to tell the others about Cloud, and Sora continued on his journey with Donald and Goofy, but Aerith stayed at the coliseum and cheered Cloud on in every tournament. Everyone was happy.

Well, not everyone....

~~~~~....~~~~~

"Curse that boy! He's even worse than Hercules!" Hades yelled as he banged his arms on the table in frustration. "Everyday, I loose more and more heartless to that stubborn blonde!"

Hades was watching today's tournament from a small pool of water. In the fountain, an image of Cloud slicing through a group of heartless reflected on the surface. So far Cloud had gone through 8 of the 10 SeeDs without a single scratch on him.

"I send my best heartless after him and he wins every time! I even tried three behemoths at once and he still just tosses them aside like wadded up pieces of paper! This kid just won't die!" Hades yelled angrily.

The Lord of the Underworld sat down and continued to gaze into the pool just in time to see Cloud win the semi finals.

Cloud lifted up his heavy buster sword in the air and the crowd cheered. As soon as everyone started getting ready for the next match, Cloud jumped off the stage and ran over to a woman in a pink dress that was standing off to the side the whole tournament. They hugged and the woman said something, he nodded. Then the announcer announced the final match between Cloud and two camouflage heartless. Two giant chameleons walked onto the stone platform ready to fight. The girl quickly pecked Cloud on the lips and said one last thing before he went back onto the stage for the final match.

"Why, hello. And who is this?" Hades asked, interested in who the girl was. The pools reflection zoomed in on her so that her image showed clearly in the water. "I knew he had to have a weak spot." Hades grinned as Cloud killed the second Camouflage and won the tournament.

_~~~~~....~~~~~_

_"Huff huff huff" Cloud ran through the streets of Radiant Garden carrying his sword over his shoulder. All of the houses were on fire and heartless roamed the city destroying every thing in their path. In the distance one could hear the cries of citizens as their hearts were stolen by heartless._

_Cloud was running for his life. Never before was he as scared as he was now. As he ran, countless heartless rose from the ground and chased him. Suddenly, a heartless appeared up from the shadows and tripped Cloud, causing him to fall onto the hard concrete. Cloud quickly grabbed his sword and got to his feet. Just then, a group of heartless jumped onto Cloud's body and started to scratch him with their long sharp claws. "Get away from me!" Cloud cried in terror. He quickly shook them off and killed them with a few swipes of his sword._

_"AAAHHH!" a scream of a girl pierced through the streets._

_Cloud recognized the scream. "Aerith!!" He ran in the direction of the cry hoping nothing had happened to his love. When he got there, Aerith was on the ground being mauled by a bunch of heartless. "Off of her!" Cloud yelled at the black creatures as he killed them. He helped her up, "Are you alright?"_

_"Thanks to you. Where are the others?" Aerith asked, catching her breath._

_"I don't know." _

_Just then a bunch of heartless formed behind them._

_"Cloud!! The Heartless, watch out!!" Aerith cried out pointing at the Heartless._

_Cloud quickly spun around and readied his sword. "Aerith, run!"_

_Aerith ran from the scene and Cloud covered her as more and more heartless appeared. _

_"AAAAHHHH!!" Aerith screamed again._

_Cloud ran in her direction once more, but as soon as he turned the corner, he saw the horrific scene. Aerith was lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a deep bloody slash running down her back._

_"N-no!! Aerith!!" Cloud dropped his sword and ran over to her. He picked her up in his arms. "A-Aerith! Please wake up!" Tears started to fall from Cloud's eyes._

_"....Cloud...." Aerith managed to say._

_"Aerith! Don't die! Please! Stay with me!"_

_Aerith's body went limp in his arms. Cloud wept for her and rested his head against hers._

_"Aww, poor Cloud. It's such a shame to see a pretty girl like her die, isn't it?" asked a deep voice from behind._

_Cloud recognized the voice and turned around to see a man holding a sword covered in blood. "You!? You did this!? But, how could you!? You were our friend! And all of this is your doing!?"_

_The man only laughed. ---_

~~~~~....~~~~~

Cloud suddenly woke up. He was sitting up in his bed and it was night time. Cloud took a deep breath and calmed himself. He glanced at his side to find Aerith still sleeping. Cloud lay back down beside her and held her warm body against his bare chest.

Still asleep, Aerith snuggled up to him.

"I thought you were dead...." he muttered in her ear. Then with his arms wrapped around her, he fell asleep once more.


	5. Chapter V

**Konichiwa again!..... wow I actually have nothing to say.... that's a first.... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH or FF.**

When Cloud woke up the next mourning, he found himself alone. He sat up and stretched out his arms. After he got dressed, he headed over to the kitchen for breakfast. As usual, he found Aerith busy cooking food for everyone. Aerith loved to cook her own meals and she was almost as good at it as she was growing things.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" she greeted in her usual happy tone.

"Morning. Need any help?" Cloud offered, putting his hands on her waist and looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, could you get down the plates please?" Aerith asked, still cooking.

"Sure."

~~~~~....~~~~~

"Alrighty then!" Hades said as he unlocked the door of a humungous cage. "Here's the deal: get the girl and I set you free. And if someone gets in the way, kill them. Got it?"

From inside the cage opened a big pair of yellow eyes. The creature hissed and slithered its way out of the cage and towards the light world above.

~~~~~....~~~~~

Sora was at Traverse Town talking to Leon and Yuffie. They were all planning on going to visit Aerith and Cloud.

"So when do we leave?" asked Sora.

"Right now! I wanna go see 'em!" said the hyper ninja.

"Fine...." agreed Leon in his usual monotone way. "Hey, Cid. We're gonna go to the Coliseum, wanna join?"

"Nah...." If there were two things Cid was better at than Leon, it's Gummi ships, and not caring.

"Suite your self, Gramps!" Sora called out. And the three left.

"Hmph!.... my name's not gramps." Cid muttered.

~~~~~....~~~~~

Not even seconds after Sora, Leon, and Yuffie got off the ship; they heard a loud bash and a hiss.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

The three ran over to the doors to see that the gate was clawed open. But, when they entered they saw a bloody scene.

A large purple snake thing with three heads was snapping at Hercules. It was humungous. On the ground was a collogue of red and black blood.

"Leon! Yuffie!" Aerith cried from off to the side. In her arms lay a bloody Cloud.

"What happened?!" Leon ran over to her while Sora and Yuffie joined Hercules.

"I-I don't know." Aerith stammered as tears rolled down her face. "This snake thing just, attacked us out of no where. I-it grabbed me a-and Cloud tried to save me. He cut off its head but, it only grew three more. One of the heads grabbed Cloud in its mouth and it b-bit down on him. Hercules got it to let go b-but, Cloud won't wake up." She sobbed. "I-I'm scared."

"Don't be, because you can't help him unless you get a grip." Aerith nodded and Leon ripped Cloud's shirt. On Cloud's chest were six huge puncture wounds that pierced right through Cloud's body. Around each of the wounds, the blood had tinted black.

"What kind of monster is this?" Leon muttered.

"A Hydra, one of the most feared monsters in the Underworld," Phill stated. "Its venom causes the victim's heart to speed up so much, that it can't clean and filter the blood, causing it to turn black. That way the organs and muscles run out of oxygen, and suffocate."

"Is there an antidote?!"

"Nope, that's why it's so deadly. Hydra venom can take up to three hours to kill someone. The best thing you can do right now, is make sure he doesn't bleed to death."

Leon and Aerith carried him inside and did all they could. The Hydra was soon killed and all they could do was wait.

~~~~~....~~~~~

Down in the Underworld....

Hades chuckled, "Not long now until that punk finally gets out of my hair! I was planning on just kidnapping the girl and trading her for his soul, but seeing him die from Hydra venom is much more satisfying! Even if it did cost me one Hydra!" Hades laughed as he watched Cloud suffer in his all seeing fountain.

"So then, you're the one who tried to kill Cloud," said a deep mysterious voice.

Hades turned around to see a man with long platinum hair leaning against the door way. "Hey! How'd you get in here? This is the deepest part of the Underworld!"

"Measly heartless are no match for me. Now, I suggest you don't try to hurt Cloud again. Got it?" asked the man.

"'Measly'!?—"

"Got it?" the man repeated as he pointed his long sword between Hades' eyes.

"Yeah, okay. Seesh."

The man lowered his sword in approval.

"Huh, nice sword. What is it, 8 feet long?"

"Its name is Masamune, and it's 9 feet long." He said as he put the freakishly huge sword away, and started to walk towards the door.

"Masamune?" Just then, Hades gasped in the realization of who he was talking to. "You're that guy that Cloud was looking for! He said he wanted to kill you."

The man stopped. "I know."

"So then, why are you protecting him?" Hades asked, purely confused.

"Because...." The man walked over to the magic pool and waved his hand over the reflection. Cloud groaned as he glowed a light green color, then, suddenly relaxed. "I'm going to be the one to kill him."


	6. Chapter VI

**Alright, next chapter! Yeah! Ok my random thing for today: in KH 1, after you beat Hades, and you talked to Cloud, remember when he said that the reason why he signed that contract with Hades was because he was looking for someone, and Hades promised to help him? How many of you thought he was talking about Sephiroth? Cause I sure did. Well, I was playing Kingdom Hearts, and when I talked to him, instead of saying what he usually did, he said "I'm looking for someone very special to me. When our world was destroyed, we were separated. Hades promised to help me find her." I squealed, and I rarely squeal! And no I am not making this up. Apparently, if you beat Cloud without getting hurt, summoning, or using items or magic; you unlock this alternate line. Yes I am that awsome at playing video games! But still, isn't that cool!?**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

_"Aerith, don't die! Please! Stay with me!"_

_Aerith's body went limp in his arms. Cloud wept for her and rested his head against hers._

_"Aww, poor Cloud. It's such a shame to see a pretty girl like her die, isn't it?" asked a deep voice from behind._

_Cloud recognized the voice and turned around to see a man holding a sword covered in blood. "You!? You did this!? But, how could you!? You were our friend! And all of this is your doing!?"_

_The man only laughed._

_"Sephiroth!" Tears continued to fall from Cloud's face._

_"Yes, Cloud. I'm the one who let the heartless out," he said with a sly grin._

_"But, why? I respected you. You were like a brother to me!"_

_"The darkness in peoples hearts attract the heartless, they feed off it. I to am attracted to that same darkness."_

_"Darkness? Then why did you kill Aerith!?"_

_"Her heart was so exceedingly radiant, that my eyes burned every time I looked at her. But that doesn't matter now that she's dead." Sephiroth laughed. "But, don't worry," he pointed his sword directly between Cloud's eyes, "you'll be seeing her again soon."---_

~~~~~....~~~~~

Cloud opened his eyes. He was in his bed at the coliseum and he couldn't remember what happened. When Cloud tried to sit up, a sharp pain rose in his chest. _"Gah!" _Cloud fell back onto the covers as the pain jogged his memory back up to date.

"Don't move too much. Right now you just need to relax or you'll wake up the venom that's sleeping in your blood stream." Phill warned as he walked in with clean bandages.

"How long was I out?" Cloud asked as he tried sitting up again, slowly this time.

"Three days." Phill stated as he took off Cloud's old bandages.

"Three da—_!_" Cloud winced as another sharp pain shot through him.

"I said not to move! Now lift up your arm—thank you. Besides, you're lucky to be alive. No one's ever survived Hydra venom before. You must have some guardian angel fallowing you."

"Hmph, I hope not...." Cloud muttered. Then Cloud noticed that someone else was in the room. Aerith was sleeping in a chair by the window, resting her head on the desk.

"Uh-huh! Done." Phill exclaimed as he tied off the bandage. Then, when he noticed Cloud was looking at Aerith, he sighed. "Poor girl, you worried her, y' know. She wouldn't eat or even leave the room. She must've finally worn her self out.... Though I'm glad you're ok, if not for you, for her. It would've shatered that girl's soul to peices if you didn't recover," after that final word, Phill left the room to leave Cloud with his thoughts.

~~~~~....~~~~~

When Aerith woke up, she felt something soft and warm on her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes to see Cloud sitting next to her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Hey," he said once he noticed she was awake.

"Cloud?" She looked surprised, but then she smiled at him and sat up. "You're okay," she said happily as she fell into his arms crying tears of joy.

Cloud smiled and embraced her. "Of course I'm okay."

"I thought you were going to die!" she sobbed. "Phill said that no one's ever survived from a Hydra bite before."

"And yet here I am. I guess I must be really lucky," he said sarcastically.

Aerith chuckled. She lifted her head and they kissed passionately.

~~~~~....~~~~~

Aerith hummed a lifting tune. She was sitting on the edge of the arena with her hands on her knees staring up at the afternoon sky. After Cloud had fallen asleep, she wanted to be sure she didn't bother him, so here she was, out side.

Aerith continued to hum as she swung her legs to the tune.

"My, my, what a lovely mood we're in," said a familiar voice.

Aerith stopped humming and turned her head to see who it was. But when she saw him, her eyes widened and her stomach wrenched.

The man was tall with long silver hair that almost reached the floor. Sprouting from his right shoulder was a black wing. His green eyes glowed with a certain sheen, that Aerith knew all to well. "Long time, no see, Aerith," the man said in a deep voice.

"S....Sephiroth!" was all Aerith managed to say.


	7. Chapter VII

**Konichiwa!! I'm back and sorry for the long wait. Heh, lack of motivation due to non-lack of homework.... Well Anyways, I'm really proud about that hydra venom thing I made up.... It actually sounds like a real symptom thingy! XD So, yeah. I'd like to thank MoonShadow396 for giving me the proper motivation by reminding me that people actually read what I write. So people, if you want me to update, REVIEW!! Or do something like, putting my story on story alert or making it your favorite or something else I'll see in my e-mail.... something like that. Now if you excuse me, it's 10:00 at night and I still need to do my math homework. (falls asleep somewhere around question #13)**

**Disclaimer: Nothing owned, no one's sued, everyone's happy. YEAH!!! **

"Hmm.... Didn't I kill you?" Sephiroth asked as he walked closer to Aerith.

Frightened, Aerith moved away from him. "W-what do you want?"

"To visit Cloud. I heard he was sick in bed," Sephiroth said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You're lying." Aerith was slowly gaining confidence, but no one could blame her for loosing said confidence in the first place. Just standing in the presence of the one winged angel would make even the most fearless, or foolish, cower in fear.

Sephiroth came closer to her, so that they were only inches apart. He looked down at her and asked, "Oh?" Then, Masamune materialized right next to Aerith's side from a mass of black smoke. Sephiroth's eyes were cold, and almost hypnotizing.

"...." and Aerith's confidence was gone again. She held onto her necklace, and it seemed to give her the strength to explain her accusation. ".... You.... didn't come here to visit. You came here to.... kill Cloud, didn't you?" Aerith's stomach twisted, for she already knew the answer.

"Hmm...." Sephiroth looked at his sword and smirked. "Now, what gave you that idea?" he asked as he focused his eyes back on her.

Aerith quickly glanced towards the door behind Sephiroth. It was far off but Aerith knew she had to try to make it. She had to get Cloud to a safe place, for he was still to weak to defend himself and she knew Sephiroth was far from joking. Aerith suddenly sprinted for the door, and by the time Sephiroth turned around, she was already out of his swords range.

Aerith was almost there, when suddenly; Sephiroth disappeared and then reappeared in front of her. He caught her by the arm, causing her to stop. "Then again, I might as well start by killing his lover instead," he snarled as he pushed her up against the wall. "Now, how to do it...." He thought to him self as Aerith tried to struggle her arm out of his grasp while screaming for him to let go. "I know...." He smirked at her as she stopped screaming and her eyes filled with terror. "Something slow and painful..."

Aerith let out a small scream as he pushed her onto the granite bleachers, her back laid on top of the cold stone steps. Sephiroth's sword disappeared in his hands and he leaned over her. He clasped his hand around Aerith's throat, and as she grabbed his arm in attempt to force him to let go, Sephiroth whispered to her; "This is my favorite way to kill someone." He then inched closer to her and forced his lips upon hers. He pushed against the pressure point on the side of her jaw to force her mouth open, so he could caress her deeper.

Aerith felt weak, maybe due to lack of oxygen or from the fact that she was kissing the man she hated most in all the worlds.

Sephiroth could feel Aerith's grip slacken as she slowly but surely started to slip into unconsciousness. He smirked; the pain he was forcing her to go through only brought Sephiroth pure joy.

"Sephiroth!!" an angry voice called out from over by the door.

Sephiroth pulled away and turned his head slightly to see whom had so rudely interrupted his fun.

By the door stood a tall man with spiky blonde hair, and pure blue eyes that glowed with the same hue that was present in Sephiroth's eyes as well as the eyes of all the other SOLDIERs. He had his sword down in the attack position and his expression assured Sephiroth that he wouldn't hesitate to run him through.


	8. Chapter VIII

**Konichiwa!! Hello again! First of all, thank you Aeris Hikari and firehottie for giving me motivation! So review people! Or else, I shall torcher Pikmin!! Yeah that's right! *holds out a little red creature with a flower on its head, and puts a knife by it's throat* So review! Else teh Pikmin get's it!  
*****Suddenly, Gina Tsukiko comes on the scene and whispers something into Laurana's ear*  
****Laurana: What? Oh whoops.  
*****Gina runs back off stage*  
****Laurana: Ok, well, it seems that there is a law against killing or in anyway harming Pikmin even though they are not listed as an animal.... so yeah. *sets Pikmin down and it runs away crying* REVIEW!!!!! XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FF, KH, or Pikmin, only this story. **

**Oh and by the way, just to let you know, this isn't the last chapter of the story. I have already confused people into thinking that it was. So no matter how much it sounds like the end, it's not!!**

"Get off of her," Cloud growled menacingly. He had a look of murder in his eyes, and his sword was ready to slaughter.

Deciding not to start the battle just yet, Sephiroth obeyed but kept his hand firmly around Aerith's neck. "Why if it isn't, Cloud," he stated with a look of disappointment.

"Let her go." Cloud ordered slowly, drawling out every word.

Sephiroth sighed "Very well...." He let go of Aerith and let her fall to the ground.

Aerith started coughing immediately. She rolled over to her hands and knees gasping for air.

Cloud looked at her then redirected his attention to Sephiroth. "Aerith, get inside." He ordered without taking his eyes off of the man in front of him.

"N-no.... You'll be killed!" Aerith coughed.

Cloud glared at her in an almost begging way.

Suddenly, Sephiroth attacked Cloud with a slice.

Cloud snapped back into attention just in time to block Sephiroth's sword as their blades clashed. Sephiroth quickly rotated and attempted several more strikes, all of which were blocked. Cloud then jumped out of the way of yet another swipe, and retaliated with his own attack, of which ended in a stand still with both swords scraping up against the other. Cloud quickly lost his advantage as Sephiroth out strengthed him.

"What's the matter, Cloud? Hydra venom getting to ya?" Sephiroth asked playfully.

"How do you know about that?!" Cloud withdrew his sword and dodge rolled away from the attack that followed.

Aerith watched in anxiety. She hated to just watch from the side lines, but there was nothing she could do. She felt so helpless, and she knew Cloud was reaching his limit, soon the venom would take effect and it would all be over. Aerith shunned the thought, but it still reappeared in her mind.

Cloud brought down his sword, just barely missing Sephiroth. Just then, a sharp pain shot through his body. Sephiroth was right. Cloud was running out of breath, and his muscles were tired and sore. Cloud flinched as another dose of pain rose in his chest.

Sephiroth took this time to plan his next move. He disappeared and teleported behind Cloud. Cloud quickly spun around, but he was too late to dodge it. Cloud didn't even see Sephiroth lift up his sword, before he fell to his hands and knees with a bloody gash reaching across half of his chest.

"Cloud!" Aerith's heart stinged in pain. She wanted to close her eyes, she couldn't watch any longer.

Cloud stared at the blood stained floor in horror. The blood that seeped out of his wound, was black, pure black.

"So I see you haven't recovered yet. Such a pity. I guess Curaga doesn't work like it use to," Sephiroth remarked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Cloud tried to get up, but only fell backwards. He sat up and grabbed his chest as it continued to bleed profusely. Then, he felt another sharp pain and immediately looked towards his left hand to find Sephiroth's sword stabbed through his fore arm, stapling it to the ground. Cloud tried desperately to free himself, but Sephiroth's sword had launched its self firmly though the stone. He was trapped.

Sephiroth picked up Cloud's sword, and walked slowly to his victim. Cloud looked up at him in terror.

Aerith was scared, she didn't know what to do. She had to do something; she couldn't just stand there and watch Cloud be slaughtered!

Cloud flinched, waiting for what would happen. Sephiroth lifted up Cloud's sword—

"SEPHIROTH!! NO!! WAIT!!"

And he missed. Cloud opened his eyes to see his sword lodged into the ground inches from him, and a very angry Sephiroth glaring at Aerith.

Sephiroth let go of the swords handle, leaving it suspended in the rock, and walked over towards Aerith.

Cloud tried desperately to free himself, but only ended up cutting his free hand against Masamune's blade.

Sephiroth stopped in front of Aerith, "You are starting to annoy me." He put his hand over Aerith's heart.

Suddenly, Aerith felt a great pain in her heart and immediately fell to the ground coughing and crying.

"N-no! Aerith! Sephiroth, what have you done to her!?" Cloud demanded an answer.

Sephiroth turned to him, "Its simple, Cloud. I gave her a sample of my darkness."

Aerith continued to cough, it felt like her heart was being shredded apart.

"What?!"

"You see, Cloud, the darkness in my heart, is unlike the norm. It feeds on light and dark alike, and cannot be balanced. It will continue to feed until it consumes the heart of it's victim. But there is a way to stop it."

"Tell me," Cloud demanded.

Sephiroth grinned for the antidote was all too simple yet complex. "You need to give her your light, Cloud."

"How?"

"Not so fast, Cloud. Aren't you the least bit worried of what will happen to you once you give her your light?" Sephiroth noticed Cloud's eyes widen, "With out light, there will be nothing left to keep your own darkness from spreading and taking over your heart. You would ultimately switch your fate with Aerith's and cease to exist. Now I leave you with that, Cloud Strife, for you to ponder." And with that, Sephiroth vanished. His sword soon faded to rejoin its master, in a field of smoke.

Cloud struggled to get up. He hobbled over to Aerith and fell at her side. She was unconscious but seemed as though she was in pain. Cloud let her rest in his arms as he thought over the situation. He knew what he had to do, and he didn't care about the side effects. He knew he had to give her his light, the only problem was; he didn't know how. "It's hopeless," he muttered. Cloud closed his eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to form. He decided to kiss his lover one last time. The sensation was brief yet consoling, as he kissed her fervently.

All too sudden, a familiar pain shot through his body. His wound started to surge with blood again, and Cloud could feel himself slipping from consciousness. He knew he was at his end. Another wave of pain forced him down onto his back. His world was fading quickly into darkness, the same darkness he had secretly feared for all these years.

Cloud no longer held back his tears. He turned so he could see Aerith in her sleep like state. He held her close to him and whispered in her ear, "At least, we'll go together."

One last wave of pain raced through Cloud's tired body, as his world went blank, and he slipped into a cold never ending rest.


	9. Chapter IX

**Konichiwa again friends! So Sorry for the long wait!! I'm kinda going through a lot of stress with finals and stuffs. That and my computer is older than I am. Oh! Domo Origato ****Aeris Hikari!!!! She gave me a review!!!! XD I feel so loved *sob*  
****Gina: Hey!! I gave you a review!!!  
****Laurana: Which reminds me, Please ignore my editor's comment about the panda bears *animated sweat drop* She's crazy. Heh heh. Oh! And before I forget: this chapter has 2 curse words in it. ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: ....dang it, I'm out of disclaimer jokes.... I OWN NOTHING!!!**

_"Sephiroth!" Tears continued to fall from Cloud's face._

_"Yes, Cloud. I'm the one who let the heartless out," he said with a sly grin._

_"But, why? I respected you. You were like a brother to me!"_

_"The darkness in peoples hearts attract the heartless, they feed off it. I to am attracted to that same darkness."_

_"Darkness? Then why did you kill Aerith!?"_

_"Her heart was so exceedingly radiant, that my eyes burned every time I looked at her. But that doesn't matter now that she's dead." Sephiroth laughed. "But, don't worry," he pointed his sword directly between Cloud's eyes, "you'll be seeing her again soon."_

_Cloud glanced at his sword. 'No, I can't fight him,' Cloud thought to himself. 'He'll surely kill me.'_

_Sephiroth lifted his sword and stepped forward, ready to kill Cloud. When he brought his sword down, Cloud quickly rolled out of the way and onto his feet with Aerith's body still in his arms. He turned around and ran._

_"Hmph, well that was disappointing. It's no use running, Cloud!" Sephiroth called after him. He then darted in the direction of his prey._

_Cloud ran as fast as he could, making sure to turn directions every now and then to make it harder for Sephiroth to catch up. Soon, he was out of breath. "Damn it, I can't keep running like this," Cloud panted as he slowed to a stop. He put Aerith down and leaned against the wall next to her. Cloud grunted and slumped to the ground with a hand on his side. "Damn...."_

_"Where are you, Cloud? It's no use hiding, I will find you," Sephiroth said in a playful tone, and it sounded like he was near by. To him this was nothing more than a game of Seek and Destroy._

_Cloud snapped back into alertness. He jumped up but hesitated. Cloud glanced over at Aerith. He knew he had to get moving again, but he also knew he didn't have the strength left to take Aerith with him. It wouldn't help her if he did, she was already gone, but Cloud couldn't stand the thought of leaving her._

_Cloud clenched his fists and looked down at the floor. "S-sorry...." he muttered as a tear rolled down his cheek. He then continued along the road leaving his love behind._

~~~~~....~~~~~

Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He was in a bright room, and as far as he could tell, he was laying down. Cloud had trouble seeing, every thing was too bright. But at least his eyes didn't burn.

"Hey, look! Cloud's awake!" said a girl's voice.

"Aerith?" Cloud muttered.

"I'm here," said a calmer voice. Aerith picked up Cloud's hand and wrapped her own hands around it.

"I can't see...." Cloud closed his eyes shut. "Everything's too bright."

"Leon?" Aerith asked the brunette leaning against the wall.

"Mmm~mm (I don't know)" Leon shrugged. "I still can't figure out how he's alive, let alone what would cause hypersensitivity in his eyes." Leon pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Cloud. "It's quite curious though, all the sudden that venom that was inside you, just disappeared. All signs of it ever being there vanished. I'd say your very lucky Cloud, not only did you survive from a deadly venom twice now, that had never been known to leave survivors, but you were cured of it as well. And on top of that, at the same time, you managed to fully heal yourself of wounds that could normally kill a man, all in about a week. And up until two days ago, you showed no signs of recovery. It's absolutely arcane." Leon put his hand over his face, it was a certain quirk of his that he did when he went into deep thought. Back in Garden, Rinoa always use to joke about it and say how 'Squall was no longer among us'.

"See, I told ya he had a guardian angel." Phill said as he walked into the room to check on Cloud.

"Mmm.... No, Sephiroth said that he casted Curaga on me the last time," mentioned Cloud.

Leon face palmed his own forehead. "Curaga! Why didn't I think of that?!"

"But why did he want to save you if he was just going to kill you?" Yuffie asked. She had a point.

"Maybe he wanted to kill Cloud himself," Aerith offered yet another good point.

"Maybe...." Cloud sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Did your sight come back?" Aerith asked, putting her hand on his cheek.

"Yeah.... everything's tinted green though...." Cloud said, still rubbing his eyes.

~~~~~....~~~~~

"How is he alive?!" Sephiroth yelled in frustration. "He kissed her, and through that gave her his light! So then how did his heart remain stable?! The darkness should have swallowed it completely!" Sephiroth paced back and forth. "Maybe if he turned into a heartless, but that's certainly improbable! Only ones with a strong enough will can keep their appearance!"

That made Sephy stop and think. "But maybe he did have a strong enough will. Certainly love has proven it's self to be the strongest will known to man." Sephiroth turned his attention to the image portal that showed him current events (A/N: all the cool bad guys have one XD). "Maybe his love for Aerith is what kept him alive...." He then scowled. "How annoying.... I guess this time I'll have to kill him the sure way." Sephiroth held out his hand causing Masamune to appear out of thin black smoke. "By destroying him."

**A/N: And another thing, if you were wondering what arcane meant because you didn't know, don't feel bad, I didn't even know what it meant.... It means baffling, unexplained, uncomprehendable.... Did I spell that last one right?  
****Gina: I don't know.  
****Laurana: . . . . My editor everybody! *motions her hands towards Gina as if presenting somthing*  
****Gina: Hey! I'm not even sure that's a word!  
****Laurana: Meh, oh well, they get the point. Oh, and one last thing! Incase you people didn't know who Rinoa was, she's Squally's girlfriend from FF8. OK thank you every body for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as finals are over XD**


	10. Chapter X

**Konichiwa fans! Sorry it took so long to update, but up till now, I had the entire story plotted out in my head, down to the sentence. But luckily, I think I got the rest of it figured out now. So anyways, my random thing for today is about KH2. Did anyone else notice that in The World that Never Was, when Sora finally reunites with Kairi and Riku, he just runs past Kairi completely ignoring her existence, goes over to Riku, falls to his knees, grabs onto Riku's cloak, starts CRYING, and babbles about how he missed Riku so much and looked everywhere for him, meanwhile, Kairi is RIGHT THERE!!!! God, I could hear the fan girls squealing. That and at the very end, it totally looks like Sora is grabbing Riku's butt. "Helping him walk" my $%!! I think maybe Square Enix should've made a few teenagers test play it before it was released.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FF or KH, because one does not own Cloud, Cloud owns you!!! FINAL FANTASY FOR THE WIN!!**

"Bye, Leon! Thanks for coming!" Aerith waved Leon good bye as he left for his ship.

A few hours after Cloud had regained consciousness, Yuffie decided she would go home and tell Cid the good news. But Leon decided he would spend the night in one of the coliseum's spare rooms, in case Cloud had further symptoms. Luckily though, Cloud had fully recovered, and required no more special care.

Leon waved back at Aerith then turned around and headed for the coliseum gates. He was about to enter his ship when he heard a high pitched scream. _That sounded like Aerith._ Thinking fast, Leon grabbed his gunblade. "Aerith!" he called. Leon ran inside the gates only to find a tall man with long silver hair holding Aerith hostage, with one hand around her waist pinning her arms to her side, and the other covering her mouth. "S-Sephiroth....!" Leon gasped at the sight of his once best friend.

"Why hello, dear Squall. Surprised to see me?" Sephiroth said as soon as he noticed Leon's presence.

"Don't you dare address me as if I were a friend!" Leon growled, "And it's Leon," he exclaimed as he readied Leonhart (A/N: For those who didn't know, that's the name of his gun blade).

"You're not going to _fight_ me, are you, Squally?" Sephiroth asked in an almost daring way.

"My name is LEON!" And with that comment, Leonhart started to glow with fire.

Sephiroth let go of Aerith, but before she could move, black ropes spawned and tied up her arms and legs, causing her to fall to her knees.

Sephiroth stepped forward with out even drawing his sword.

Leon charged at him with his gunblade only to be electrocuted by Sephiroth. Leon screamed out in pain as the electrical bolts surged through his body effortlessly. He quickly fell to his hands and knees.

"Poor, poor, Squall," Sephiroth said as he walked towards him.

Tiny sparks danced around Leon's body as he panted. He felt so weak; those sparks stole the strength right out of him.

"You were always the baby brother, to weak to protect your self, let alone others. I guess that didn't change."

"You're no brother of mine!" he said as he glared into Sephiroth's cold eyes.

"Hmph!" Sephiroth held out his hand and once again, electrocuted Leon.

Leon screamed in pain as the lightning shocked every muscle in his body. He soon fell to the ground unconscious.

Cloud sighed and rubbed his hair. Aerith just left to say good bye to Leon, but she was taking too long. He soon got impatient and went to see what the hold up was. As he left the foyer, he noticed Leon's ship hadn't taken off yet. "What's going on?" he thought to him self.

Then, Cloud noticed something; lodged in one of the pillars was a sword. More specifically, Leon's gunblade. Cloud walked over to it then yanked it from the stone. As it was detached, a metal object and a piece of paper fell to the ground.

Cloud picked up the note and read it:

_I have in my custody, both a lion and a lover. If you want them back, you will meet me in the Great Maw in Hallow Bastion, the remnants of Radiant Garden. I'll expect you before noon. And Cloud, don't make me wait. My sword is eager to cut and whether it's you or your lover it cuts makes no difference to it._

_Sephiroth_

Cloud gazed at the ground in horror. Resting in the dust was a necklace. It had a chain of gold and from its center, lay a silver "C".


	11. Chapter XI

**HAI PEOPLES! I'm so sorry about not updating all summer, it's just, I'm not getting anymore feed back from you readers, and that in itself is 95% of my motivation. The other 5% is "I'm bored...... might as well work on that story, I've got nothing better to do." And that's IT! So unless you want to wait another millennia for me to update, REVIEW! And it doesn't have to be long or anything, just something like "Good story," or "Please update," That'll work! On to another subject; the fallowing flash back will probably be the last flash back of the entire fanfic, and it's not even Cloud's. And if you haven't played FF8, then this next part may get a little confusing for you. Griever fans: I hope you like this next part, and if you think I screwed it up a little too much, then first of all, I apologize, and secondly, I remind you that this is a fan FICTION of Kingdom Heart's of all things. So you can't really be mad at me, can you??**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, FFVIII or KH**

_Squall panted as he ran past the houses of Radiant Garden. He had heard a scream and thought it belonged to Aerith. Like all the other citizens, he was scared beyond all belief. As he ran he shot down several heartless with his gunblade. _

_'I smell blood,' said a voice inside his head. 'Not far, to the East,' it said. Its name was Griever, and it was more than just a voice. It was a GF or "Guardian Force" and it made its home in Squall's head and Squall was the only one that could hear it._

_Squall fallowed the path as directed. "Aerith!" he called out as soon as he saw the bloody pink dress. He ran over to her and shook her on the shoulder. "Aerith? Aerith, please wake up."_

_'She's still alive, but barely,' said Griever._

_'What should I do?' Squall asked his friend._

_'Take her with us, I can feel the heart of this world weakening. It won't be long until it concedes defeat to the heartless.'_

_'What happens then?' Squall asked as he picked Aerith up in his arms._

_'As soon as the heart of this world is swallowed, so to is the world swallowed,' Griever explained._

_Squall continued along the road in search of the others, until Griever spoke up._

_'Some one is coming and they carry a bloody sword. Be ready to fight,' he warned._

_Squall stopped and hid Aerith off to the side. He readied his weapon and waited._

_It wasn't long until he heard foot steps coming down the same path he had just walked._

_Soon the foot steps slowed to a walk and a long sword appeared through the flames followed by Sephiroth._

_"Seph!" Squall relaxed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you are the strongest man I know."_

_"'Strongest __man__'?" Sephiroth asked with an eyebrow raised._

_"Sorry, Selphie rocks when she gets mad." Then Squall put his hand over his face (A/N: He does that when he talks to Griever), 'Griever, that's Sephiroth. He's not my enemy.'_

_'For now.'_

_'What are you talking ab--'_

_"Even in the face of danger, you're still in deep thought." Sephiroth chuckled as he walked closer to Squall, with sword still in hand._

_"Yeah well, I guess it's just a habit of mine." Squall started to get uneasy when he noticed the blood on Masamune._

_"Hmph. Hey, Squall, have you seen Cloud by any chance? I met up with him earlier, but I seem to have lost him."_

_'Don't tell him where he is,' Griever commanded._

_'But, we just saw Cloud heading north, not a moment ago.'_

_'Lie!'_

_"Uh-No haven't seen him...." he said hastily. 'Hey, Griever, do heartless bleed?' he asked as he stared at the blood on Sephiroth's sword._

_'No, they have no hearts to pump the blood.'_

_"Are you sure you haven't seen him?" Sephiroth asked when he noticed Squall starting to shake._

_"Sephiroth, it was you wasn't it? You hurt Aerith."_

_"HA HA HA!! Took you long enough to figure it out! But now that you know, I guess I might as well kill you. Cloud can wait, I'll deal with you for now." Sephiroth lunged at Squall._

_Squall tried to get out of the way but he wasn't fast enough. Sephiroth's sword had etched a deep gash across Squall's face starting at his forehead and ending on his left cheek. Squall fell to his knees with his hands over his wound._

_'Griever! He's going to kill me! What do I do?!'_

_'Look up.'_

_Squall looked up at the sky to see a giant heartless tower over the buildings. Above it was a black sphere that seemed to be a black whole. _

_Sephiroth sensed this and turned around. "Finally."_

_'Wh-what's happening?'_

_'The heart of this world has fallen. Radiant Garden is collapsing.'_

_Soon everything was being sucked in. _

_"Aerith!" Squall cried out as he ran to the unconscious girl. He quickly grabbed onto her and then—everything went black._

Leon opened his eyes and sat up. "Ugh, I hate flash backs," he said as he rubbed his forehead. He soon looked around and tried to absorb his surroundings. He was in a canyon made from a bluish stone. _Where am I?_

'Don't you recognize this place? You use to play here in this canyon.'

_What?.... We're in the Great Maw, aren't we?.... But how_? Leon then noticed a girl next to him. "Aerith?" Leon shook Aerith's shoulder.

'She was knocked unconscious by dark magic. Use light magic to counter it.'

Leon put his hand on her forehead. "Full life," he muttered. His hand shined white for a moment, and the light spread though Aerith's body.

Aerith groaned then blinked her eyes open. She looked dazed. "Where am I?" she asked putting her hand on her head.

"Radiant Garden."

"What?" Aerith lifted her head.

"Listen, Aerith, we need to go, now." Leon helped the stunned girl to her feet. Leon put his hand over his face, _She's still a little shaky._

'That will wear off within the minute.'

_The sooner the better.... _Leon put her arm around his neck and a hand on her side to help support her, and then the two hurried down the basin.

Suddenly, Leon heard a sound, the sound of sword against rock and of heartless dieing. 'He's coming,' Griever warned.

Leon spotted a nearby crystal structure. He hid Aerith behind it then reached for his gunblade.... of which was not there. _Wha....? Oh great...._ Leon motioned for Aerith to scoot over then joined her in hiding.

It wasn't long until they heard foot steps near by. Masamune's shadow passed over them and Aerith shut her eyes tightly. Leon could tell she was afraid, she was almost shaking.

Suddenly the foot steps stopped. He was so close, Leon swore he could hear Sephiroth's feathers fluttering in the light breeze.

Aerith started to sweat. One wrong move and they would be done for. Then, to both Aerith and Leon's relief, the footsteps started again.

Long after the foot steps faded, Leon finally let out a calming breath. 'Well done,' Griever said.

Slowly, he crawled out from behind the crystal. _Now where?_

'It would be smart to be weary of Sephiroth's direction.'

_I concur_. He helped Aerith up then headed the other way. Luckily, Aerith was able to stand on her own now. Leon followed his memory of the canyon, hoping it wouldn't fail him. Until he ended up at a dead end.

"Leon, this is the Dark Depths. Are you sure you know where you're going?" Aerith asked as she gazed down at the far off castle.

"Sorry, Aerith, my memory is rusty, I haven't been down here since I was a kid."

"Come on, let's go back," Aerith said, tugging on his sleeve.

"OK...." Leon said.

'Too late,' said Griever.

_What?_

Suddenly, Aerith let out a small scream.

Leon spun around to see what startled her.

"There you are," Sephiroth said.

**Ok, I hope I didn't loose a few of you guys with the whole Griever thing, and no, Squall/Leon is not crazy, having voices in side your head does not automatically make you crazy. What do you think a conscience is?? Huh?? **


	12. Chapter XII

**Ok peoples, it's me again. Alright now, this is the last fight scene in the entire book. And I bet some of you have realized by now that the book is coming to an end. Yes that's right, there's only one chapter after this one, AND I'M NOT POSTING IT 'TILL I GET 1 REVIEW! GINA, YOU DON'T COUNT. So yeah. I've already got the whole last chapter typed out, I just wanna make you guys work for it. XD Oh, and does any one know what Cloud's sword name is? I know it has a name, but I don't know what it is and it's bothering me....**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, else, Aerith would be alive, Tifa would be married to Barret, and Vincent and Rinoa would SO be in Kingdom Hearts, chokobos too.**

"There it is," Cloud said as Hallow Bastion came into view.

"**ARRIVAL AT HALLOW BASTION IN 7 MINUTES**," said the navicomputer.

Cloud was in full armor, and he was ready for battle. In fact, he was prepared for more than just the battle itself. _If I can just keep Sephiroth's attention towards me, Aerith and Leon can get away. _Unfortunately, that was good enough for Cloud. He knew there was a good chance that he wouldn't survive, unless of course, this was just another one of Sephiroth's attempts to get Cloud furious.

The gummi ship landed softly in what was once the market place. Burned buildings surrounded the area.

Cloud got up and grabbed his sword.

"I leave for one minute to kill a few heartless and this is what happens," Sephiroth sighed as he set down his paralyzed victims.

_Damn....can't move...._ Leon cursed in his head.

'If you knew the spell soft....' Griever sighed.

_I know Aerith does, but I don't think she can cast while paralyzed._

"You two better hope Cloud gets here soon, I'm getting tired of watching the both of you." Sephiroth scowled at them.

_So that's it.... He's using us as a lure for Cloud._

"Seph....iroth...." Aerith managed to mutter.

"Hm? You shouldn't be able to move, little girl," he said as he kneeled down in front of her.

Aerith slowly lifted her head and looked at him. "You're a.... monster...." she muttered.

This made Sephiroth laugh. "HA! HA! I'm glad you noticed my dear!" he said haughtily.

Then, to both Leon and Sephiroth's surprise, Aerith spat at him.

"GAH!" Sephiroth jumped up and rubbed the saliva off his cheek.

Leon couldn't help but laugh mentally in his head.

"That's it!" Sephiroth growled. "Never mind killing you later!" Sephiroth's sword appeared in his hands. "I'll just kill you now!" He raised his sword.

Aerith closed her eyes and waited for him to slaughter her.

_Shnk!_

When Aerith opened her eyes, Masamune was lodged in a near by crystal, and against Sephiroth's neck, was a large buster sword. And as Sephiroth glared into the eyes of his opponent, both Leon and Aerith were filled with relief.

"Not a hair on her head, Sephiroth," Cloud muttered in a demonic voice.

If this WAS just another plan to infuriate Cloud, Sephiroth had already won.

"You're not going to get away this time," Cloud threatened.

"Oh is that so?" With a motion of his hand, Sephiroth's sword unlodged itself and thrusted towards Cloud.

Cloud immediately leapt out of the way of the attack.

Masamune relaxed then joined Sephiroth at his side. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing!" With that, Masamune slashed the air. "Although, there's something me," Sephiroth said as he took a hold of Masamune's handle.

"I REALLY couldn't care less," Cloud retorted.

As Cloud stalled, Aerith was busy working her magic. (A/N: Literally! :D)

"S....soft," she muttered. Her muscles relaxed and she let out a sigh of relief. Aerith went over to Leon and placed her hand on his chest. "Soft."

Suddenly Leon came to life, "Uh! Thank God! It was getting to where I couldn't even breathe!" he said, breathing heavily.

"What's been bothering me, Cloud," Sephiroth continued, "is the fact you're not dead." Too an inexperienced fighter, it would seem that he had let down his guard, but Cloud knew that Sephiroth was just waiting for him to attack.

"Maybe I'm just lucky...." Cloud offered.

"Perhaps, but, the only way you could have survived, was if your heart, instead of being swallowed, turned into darkness itself."

"Lucky me."

'He's speaking of the transformation into a heartless.' Griever commented.

_What?_ Leon thought,_ You mean, Cloud's a heartless!?_

'It would seem....'

_But he still looks like Cloud....._

'Sometimes when the victim has an extremely strong will, their heart will succumb to the darkness but not be swallowed by it. They keep their original form, but their essence becomes darkness itself. They start to seek out the darkness in other's hearts. Take Sephiroth for example.'

_Sephiroth is a heartless!?_

'Most definently.'

"Cloud!" Leon called.

Cloud didn't move but Leon knew he was listening.

"Sephiroth is a heartless!" he shouted.

What?!" Cloud looked shocked.

"Ah yes...." Sephiroth shook his head, "Squall—"

"LEON!!"

"—always was the complete know it all...."

"But then, how do you not look like a heartless?" Cloud was obviously confused.

"It's rare, but sometimes people keep their shape when they turn!" Leon explained.

Sephiroth chuckled. "And by now, I'm sure you've figured out why Cloud is still alive."

Leon shrunk down and remained silent.

"Well?" Sephiroth looked over to Leon as if he expected an answer.

".....Cloud,"

Cloud looked over at him.

"You're a heartless too...."

"What?! No I'm not! I don't believe you!"

'He sure is being a stubborn one, isn't he?'

Leon gave a mental swat towards Griever.

"Ha Ha, very good," Sephiroth said. "Poor Cloud, you've become what you've been fighting for years. Your heart no longer carries light, in fact, you no longer even have a heart!" Sephiroth laughed.

"Shut up!" Cloud growled.

"I hope you don't try to eat Aerith's heart!" Sephiroth said laughing.

"SHUT UP!!" Cloud jumped into the air and brought his sword down over Sephiroth's head.

Sephiroth blocked just in time.

Cloud pulled back, then attacked again. Sephiroth blocked then countered by slamming Cloud in the chest. Cloud had his back against the wall when Sephiroth threw his sword at Cloud like a spear. Cloud quickly dodged and Sephiroth's sword got lodged a few feet in the stone. Thinking fast, Cloud lifted his sword and brought it down as hard as he could on Masamune. Amazingly, the great sword shattered. Shards exploded from the breakage point.

Now Sephiroth was irritated, he picked up the now 3 foot Masamune and slashed at Cloud.

Meanwhile, Leon and Aerith just stood there watching. Every strike, every charge made Aerith's heart pound. She knew this battle was not going to end well.

Cloud blocked another attack and countered from the side. Then, Sephiroth disappeared suddenly. Before Cloud could react, Sephiroth appeared at his side and knocked Cloud's sword across the floor. Cloud dodged the attack that followed and started running to get his sword.

Once again, Sephiroth teleported, but this time, he reappeared right in front of Cloud, and before Cloud could even blink, Sephiroth took hold of his shoulder and ran him through his sword. Cloud's eyes went wide with pain as the sharp metal slid effortlessly through his ribs.

"Cloud!" Aerith tried to run over to him but Leon held her back.

Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's sword by the blade. Sephiroth pulled Cloud in closer to whisper in his ear.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," he said. Sephiroth then slowly started to twist his sword inside Cloud's body.

Cloud cried out in pain as the sword's edges scraped against his ribs forcing them to slowly spread apart.

Tears started to form in Aerith's eyes. She buried her face in Leon's shirt to hide herself.

Leon just held her close and watched the battle in horror.

After Sephiroth was satisfied with Cloud's screaming, he pulled out his sword and let Cloud fall to his hands and knees.

Cloud panted there on the ground. He grabbed his ribs and gasped in pain. He felt weak as blood trickled through his fingers.

Sephiroth was pacing around Cloud, waiting for him to get up. But he soon got impatient and ran his blade through Cloud's back.

Cloud fell to the ground as the blade left his body.

Noticing that the screaming had stopped, Aerith forced herself to uncover her face. She felt like she was going to faint when she saw Cloud lying in a bloody puddle.

Sephiroth pulled Cloud to his feet by the collar and pushed him against the wall, letting him lean against it.

It took all of Clouds strength to just stand there.

"This will end it!!" Sephiroth yelled as he lifted up his sword.

Cloud closed his eyes and waited.

"CLOUD!!"

_Shn!_

Cloud opened his eyes. In front of him, was Aerith. She was looking at him with tears in her eyes, then slowly her face went pale and her eyes dim as they relaxed. She fell forward into Clouds arms and went limp.

"A-Aerith?" Cloud's back slid down against the stone wall. "Aerith!" Then Cloud's hand slipped into the warm, wet, gash running across her entire back. "N-NO!!"

"How predictable." Sephiroth sighed. "Always interfering."

Cloud looked up at him in rage. His eyes turned as crimson as blood as he slowly stood up with Aerith in his arms. Suddenly a black demonic wing materialized on his left shoulder.

Sephiroth's eye went wide as he backed away. Before Sephiroth could react, Cloud thrusted him high into the air. He flew over to his sword, grabbed it, then, with Aerith still being held in his arm, flew up to Sephiroth and slashed him with his blade. Cloud's speed was staggering as he continuously slashed Sephiroth a total of 7 times.

The bloody Sephiroth then fell to the ground and landed on the hard stone floor. Sephiroth slowly got to his hands and knees and when he looked up, Cloud was standing staring down at him.

"It looks like.... you win, Cloud...." he managed to say. Slowly he started to fade into darkness, but before he completely disappeared, he muttered "for now." Then, he vanished, leaving behind only a single black feather in a pool of blood.

Cloud turned around and walked over to the speechless brunette in the corner. He handed Aerith over to Leon then, without a word, headed out of the canyon. Of course, he didn't get far before he collapsed on the ground.

Leon looked at him in silence, then walked over to him.

**Ok so now that you've read the chapter, go click the button under this A/N and REVIEW!!! Or you won't get the ending! And trust me, you'll want to read it! But, if I get 5 reviews, I'll post some parts in the story that aren't on this version. :] So 1 review get's you the last chapter, 5 reviews gets you 1 extra, and 10 reviews get you 2 extras XD And I have around a thousand readers, so 10 reviews shouldn't be hard.... Unless you're all lazy beyond belief...... Except you, ****Aeris Hikari, merci tellement de ma première revue et de la motivation.**


	13. Chapter XIII

**Ok my many eager readers, here it is, the last chapter. Now, I'm pretty sure that most of you might not like the ending, you can flame me, I don't mind, in fact I'll count that as a review. And once again, I'm going to keep score, enough reviews and I'll make a sequel. And I'm counting ALL my previous reviews.  
Gina:--  
Laurana: Except Gina's. So if you guys really liked it enough to have an encore, tell me and I'll make it so, even though I wasn't planning on it. JUST FOR YOU READERS!!! Oh and thank you TwilightExistence and lyrastone for the reviews! XD Oh, and a thanks to Fayt for the support, you know who you are!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy**

Aerith slowly opened her eyes. She was in a cream colored room with boxes and furniture stacked to the ceiling.

Slowly she recognized the place as Cid's home. She, Leon, Yuffie, and Cid often used it as head quarters.

Slowly Aerith sat up, she was in bandages and her body ached. Then, Aerith's hand bumped up against something. Aerith looked to her left.

Cloud was there, lying next to her, unconscious.

"Aerith!" screamed a hyper voice.

Aerith was then tackled by her good friend Yuffie.

You're awake!" she cheered happily.

"Yuffie! What happened?"

"I don't know. Leon just came through the door carrying the both of you. When I saw the blood I asked him the same question. He said that Sephiroth did that to you," Yuffie said. "Is it true? Is Sephiroth really dead?"

"I don't know.... the last thing I remember was Cloud against a wall.... Sephiroth was yelling, and then I don't know...." she said as she looked over at Cloud.

"Leon said you saved Cloud's life," Yuffie chimed.

The next morning, when Aerith woke up, something felt wrong. She looked to her side to find Cloud missing and instead, there was a note:

_ Aerith,_

_By the time you get this, I'll probably be gone, unless of course __you're a light sleeper.... It seems that every time we're together, you __always get hurt. And now with Sephiroth after me, the danger is even __greater. __I'm sure Leon will take will take care of you.... Aerith, I don't __want to loose you again. At least this way, you'll be safe. Now, I'm off __to find Sephiroth to put an end to this. Don't try to find me, there's __only danger where I'm going._

_ Cloud_

_P.S. I'll always love you._

Inside the note was a necklace. It was gold with a silver 'C'. Aerith dropped the note and ran to the door. When she opened it, Leon was there on the other side.

"It's no use.... He's already gone...." Leon said.

Aerith fell to her knees. Leon kneeled down by her and held her close. Aerith held onto the necklace tightly and began to cry. She sobbed there in his arms until her heart shattered.

**THE END**


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